In their ongoing effort to bring the Town more in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Marblehead Disability Commission met last Wednesday to discuss the ongoing review of the ADA Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan, authored in July 2023.
The Commission also discussed filling three currently vacant seats, reviewed the nearly complete Devereaux Beach bathroom update, had an introductory discussion about problems with Town Meeting accessibility, and reviewed the progress on the new Commission website.
The ADA Transition plan discussion consisted of a general check-in to decide on a plan to do a deeper review at next month’s meeting. The plan lists parts of the Town’s infrastructure and services and assess their ADA compliance, detailing necessary fixes and the estimated cost and timeline to bring each feature into compliance.
According to Chairperson Laurie Blaisdell, the implementation of the plan is running behind – the Commission last discussed it approximately a year ago.
Some progress has been made, however. For instance, the Devereaux Beach accessibility update adds a new accessible parking spot, mobi-mat walkways from the parking area to the bathrooms and playground, and a wheelchair accessible ramp to the bathrooms. They also leveled the floors in the bathrooms, removing a tripping hazard.
There was also a discussion of the three vacant seats on the Commission, including position requirements and responsibilities. These are unpaid volunteer positions. The Commission is mandated by Massachusetts law to have a majority of members be people living with disabilities from the community, so in order to bring the Commission back into compliance, all three vacancies will need to be filled by people living with disabilities.
In a follow-up interview with the Marblehead Weekly, Blaisdell also expressed interest in having one of these positions filled by a student liaison if an interested student could be found. A student liaison would grant insight into the school system’s ADA compliance with, such as with Individual Education Plan (IEP) accommodations.
According to Blaisdell, in the past, these in-school accessibility features and accommodations have been out of view of the Commission, which has historically focused on the physical accessibility features in the school.
In addition to these seats being open specifically to community members living with disability, other qualifications are a “passion for making Marblehead more accessible” and the ability to attend the Commission meetings once a month.
As Blaisdell said, “most of our job is education” on accessibility issues and ensuring that accessibility is a consideration at every step in the process in Town projects.
Meetings are currently being held virtually, but in the future the Commission may resume meeting in person. Blaisdell told Marblehead Weekly that accommodations such as audiovisual aids, sign language interpretation, transportation, or other reasonable accommodations can be provided as needed. The Commission, she went on to say, tries to be “as accommodating as we possibly can be.”
Anyone interested in applying for the Commission can send an email or letter expressing interest to the Select Board’s office at City Hall. Emails can be addressed to Kyle Wiley, administrative aide to the Select Board, at wileyk@marbleheadma.gov, and letters can be addressed to the Select Board, Abbot Hall, 188 Washington Street, Marblehead, MA 01945. New Commission members are selected by the Select Board from the pool of applicants after an interview, according to Select Board Chair Dan Fox.
Also discussed at the meeting were the ongoing issues with the accessibility of Town Meetings, such as the need for listening devices and improved screens. According to Commission member Gail Mack, the current state of town meetings is not a “ringing endorsement” of meeting accessibility.
In the follow-up interview with the Marblehead Weekly, Blaisdell expressed future plans to bring in professionals to help bring these meetings into compliance, and that the discussion of the issues during this meeting was preliminary.
There was also a presentation of the new and accessibility-forward Disability Commission website, which was generally hailed as great work by the Commission.
According to Commission member Sam Marino, the site “looks awesome!” Currently still a work in progress, the new site will include links to meetings with their associated presentation materials and links to local resources for those living with disability.
The new site will replace the currently broken website linked to by the Marblehead Disability Commission page on marbleheadma.gov.
